Bishop Dr. C. Milton Grannum and his wife, the Rev. Dr. Hyacinth Bobb-Grannum, are the founding pastors of the 1,200-member New Covenant Church of Philadelphia, located on the 40-acre New Covenant Campus. The Campus houses several schools, a 56-unit apartment complex for Senior Citizens and a Business Center to challenge, train, motivate and encourage individuals in the areas of professional management and entrepreneurial skills. The Business Center provides office space, consulting, workshops and technical resources through a combination of inhouse expertise and a network of community organizations.
Bishop Grannum is an internationally recognized, Bible expositor, trainer of leaders, author and motivational speaker. His international teaching program, “Wisdom from the Word,” has been heard daily on the radio in over 60 countries. Bishop Grannum and Dr. Hyacinth Bobb Grannum presently give leadership and oversight to a network of congregations and independent ministries in the United States and overseas.
Bishop Grannum began his academic journey by graduating from the Church of God’s West Indies Theological College in Trinidad. He later earned from universities in the United States, two masters degrees as well as three doctorates: Doctor of Ministries, Doctor of Education and Doctor of Philosophy. He also taught in the Graduate School of Education at Temple University in Philadelphia.
In addition, he earned academic certificates from both Cambridge and Oxford Universities and is the recipient of several academic and professional awards, including the1995 National Black MBA’s Educator of The Year Award. He is mentioned in the British publication, Who’s Who Among International Scholars. Bishop Grannum also serves on the International Leadership Team with Dr. John Maxwell in the training of one million leaders worldwide and is an elected member of the Ministries Council of the Church of God, Anderson Indiana. Now celebrated their Golden Anniversary, the Grannum’s are blessed with one daughter, four sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandsons.
Describe a discovery you made as a Black man:
I have discovered there is a law in logic, that everything is connected to and initiates something else and there are no single experiences that are unconnected: every experience we have is connected to some prior experience, and in turn, connects itself to a new experience. Nothing in our lives are unconnected. And so, I need to understand the connections between the up sides and the down sides; the sides I like and the sides I didn’t like. The positive people in my life and the negative people in my life, and realize that they are all connected, and that they are not necessary connected by chance — I can determine what my next connection is to be. I can either allow the circumstances to become weights pushing me down, or I can push them to the point that they become windows that I can look through. That is why in relationships with people, in circumstances with situations, regardless of what the intention might have been, I ask, “How do I use it to fit positively in my life to help me achieve the larger vision I believe I was placed here to accomplish?”
How do you push through your worst times?
I spend a lot of time in meditation. I do a lot of reflecting. By conditioning my mind and my thinking I am able to deal with things and see them in a different light. Every day is a day for me to win. Regardless of the nature of the circumstances or the type of pain it may bring, I need to turn that around and use it. if I don’t use it, then I’m giving it the freedom to use me. That is my mindset over the years. That doesn’t mean I don’t have any failures; I do. But, I think in general, I have conditioned myself to respond to circumstances, pain, challenges and suffering in such a way that they become stepping stones.
Describe a soul-restoring story about Black family life and love?
I have a number of close relatives who have experienced multiple divorces, but I was determined, and I prayed for guidance that God would lead me to a person for a long-term journey. I met my wife, we were married about three years later, and now we are in our 50th year of marriage.
To a certain extent, the slaves had a better sense of family than we now have. This nation has systematically destroyed that [family] structure, and we are the recipients of the breakdown. Family is the foundation of a society, and individuals at a very early age, need to be exposed to and trained in what it means to develop and have a healthy family. This includes a clear understanding of the difference between having a girlfriend and having a wife. Those things are very critical.
And, how do we now work with men, many of whom have been raised up in a dysfunctional society of negative influences and mindsets. Family must become part of our message.
For a church, it is an important undertaking to contribute to the restructuring of the fabric of the family, because that contributes significantly to the health of the nation.. It takes a lot of time to understand, and it is still a foreign language. If you don’t see or know a functional family it is very difficult to become one. So, we are trying hard to build those types of relationships so that people can become what they have not seen and realize that the sacrifice is worth it because you are creating a model for another generation.
